The existence of a quality housing stock is a crucial component of a community’s economic profile. Owner occupied housing not only creates a need for consumer products and goods, driving the local economy, it also contributes to providing local businesses with a long term, dependable employee base. The Door County Economic Development Corporation has maintained an Attainable Housing Committee for several years to address issues related to affordable worker housing in Door County.

The Attainable Housing Committee, recognizing that many potential homebuyers were not aware of the many locally available housing assistance programs, developed a brochure to consolidate homebuyer assistance information into one source. Committee members also presented a series of on-site homebuyer awareness programs to employees at local companies.

DCEDC recently successfully completed administration of the $467,500 Community Development Block Grant that funded the Door County Housing Assistance program from August 2004 to December 2007. $371,677 in zero-percent interest down payment loans were made to 20 eligible first-time homebuyers in the County, with an additional $53,333 granted to the MeadowWoods development in Liberty Grove to fund infrastructure improvements.

In January 2007, local manufacturer Hatco Corporation began a pilot employer-assisted housing program, allowing employees to borrow from retirement accounts to make housing down payments. An Assembly Specialist with Hatco took advantage of the program and borrowed funds from a Hatco-sponsored retirement account to make a down payment on a first-time home purchase; the employee contribution was matched, dollar-for-dollar, by the Door County Housing Assistance program.

Additionally, DCEDC and the City of Sturgeon Bay secured an extension of the $350,000 Community Development Block Grant contract that will partially finance a move by WireTech Fabricators into the Sturgeon Bay Industrial Park, allowing for the development of their existing site for workforce housing.

In 2004, the committee presented a number of changes to the zoning code in the City of Sturgeon Bay to facilitate the development of workforce housing; the City Plan Commission and the Common Council subsequently adopted many of the proposed changes.

The Attainable Housing Committee also commissioned and released the Sturgeon Bay Area Housing Needs Analysis to analyze the housing market and housing trends, document housing conditions, and provide an Action Plan to meet the demands that exist. Although originally published in April 2001 and updated in October of 2002, the concerns addressed continue to be issues today.

To join the DCEDC Attainable Housing Committee, please contact Sam Perlman.